Jaffna Arrests: Replaying The 1970s

By M. A. Sumanthiran MP, Sundayleader

November 27th this year marked an important milestone in the different phases of ethnic relations in this country. For those of us who still retain the memory of the events of 40 years ago, it was like Déjà vu. Students of the Jaffna University observed Heroes’ Day within the University premises.

The security forces invaded a female hostel; beat several students who protested the next day and the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police arrested four University students. Subsequently over 40 other youth have also been arrested and detained.

None of them have been produced before courts, except one Medical College student who was released. They seem to have been detained under the provisions of the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The Defence authorities say that these youth have been sent for ‘rehabilitation’ at their own request!
It is important to assess these developments in the backdrop of history and we cannot but notice the forty year cycle. In the early 1970s the Tamils of this country were alienated from national life in a very significant way.

The supposedly autochthonous Constitution was created by a majoritarian vote at the Navarangahala. Every single resolution proposed by the ITAK was defeated by the use of majority votes. The ITAK then walked out of the Constituent Assembly, leaving behind the All Ceylon Tamil Congress MPs Thiagarajah, Arulampalam and Anandasangaree.

The ITAK leader S. J. V. Chelvanayagam resigned his Parliamentary seat in protest and challenged the government to hold a by-election in order to demonstrate that the Tamil People endorsed their decision and that they rejected the First Republican Constitution. The government delayed holding the by-election by two years but when it was eventually held, he won with a massive majority.

Parallel to this there were other developments that took place around this time. The standardisation practised for admission to universities ended hopes of tertiary education for the Tamil youth. Many of them were sent to the UK for higher studies by their parents after selling or mortgaging their lands.

Frustrated by this alienation many of them started movements in the UK, which turned out to be first militant groups. General Union of Eelam Students (GUES) and Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) are examples of these. Note that both of these were student organisations! The LTTE which emerged a little later must be seen and understood as part of this evolutionary process.

In the mid-1970s the Tamil youth were radicalized, first by unfairly denying them higher education and then when they protested, mainly using democratic forms, by arresting them and incarcerating them under the then extant emergency law without charging them in courts.

Over 40 Tamil youths were held without trial for over four years and were released only after they went on a fast unto death in the prisons just before the Non-aligned summit held in Colombo. Mavai Senathirajah, MP and the present General Secretary of the ITAK, was one of those.

But the most accelerated form of militarizing them was by sending the army to the North under ‘Bull’ Weeratunga to ‘crush’ ‘terrorism’ in six months. Groups of Tamil youth congregating at junctions in the evenings were rounded up, beaten mercilessly and detained under the PTA and tortured.

Unable to defend themselves, many youths started joining the several militant organizations that had emerged and went under-ground. Several of them went to the Middle East and were trained in guerilla warfare.
They returned and engaged in hit and run attacks against the oppressive army. It was the large-scale violence that was unleashed against the Tamils in July 1983 that forced the Tamil youths in their thousands to join the different militant groups. This is an undeniable fact.

This shows that Tamil militancy as seen post 1983 was a direct result of Anti-Tamil pogroms of the State. This is not intended to exculpate any of the militant groups from responsibility for the terror they themselves unleashed, but certainly the State played a significant role in bringing this about.

Violence and counter-violence devoured thousands of Sri Lankans until May 2009, when the State used its military might to decimate not only the LTTE but also several thousand Tamil civilians for which it is still to be held accountable. After May 2009 there was no fighting between two forces, which gave the civilian population in the entire country some respite.

Other forms of violence however continued unabated mainly against the Tamil civilians. Over a hundred thousand displaced persons are yet to be permitted to resettle in their original places; heavy militarisation continues with its attendant evil consequences; land grabs by the military and the continuing detention of hundreds of detainees under the PTA, etc., are but some examples of such violence. A government that brooks no dissent even in the South of the country, does not tolerate any form of democratic opposition in the North.

Although there has not been a single act of violence against the State from the Tamil side as it were since May 2009, the government has continued to deal with the populace in an overly oppressive way. This includes the non-recognition of the democratically elected representatives of the Tamil People at the Parliamentary as well as local council levels in development and other activities.

If the imposition of the will of the majority on the Tamil People through sheer numbers was the form of oppression until 1970, actions that directly target the dignity and self-respect of the Tamil People, in addition to the physical violence that is being heaped on the Tamils is the form it takes now. This is exactly what was done 40 years ago and the cycle seems to be restarting again.

Once again the target is the youth in general and the student community in particular. The replay of events 40 years later has significant similarities. Again just over 40 youth have been arrested and without being produced in court, are being held under the PTA and are even purportedly being given ‘rehabilitation at their own request’ at the Welikanda Army Camp.

The fact that these detentions are wholly illegal somehow seems irrelevant to the government, which is focused on trying to show the world that the LTTE is now rising from the ashes. Ironically this is sweet music to the die-hard LTTE supporter! But in reality both sides are dragging the Tamil youth and the University students in particular down a slippery slope.

The presence of LTTE flags at the joint opposition May Day rally in Jaffna and other protest rallies, though laughable for their amateurish attempts, is an indication of what the government is trying to portray. Astonishingly, the extremist forces within the Tamil polity are their greatest allies in this.

The portrayal of the LTTE as having re-emerged may suit the different, if opposite, agendas of both sides.
But it is one that will do serious damage to any meaningful reconciliation being achieved. Right thinking people in both communities must thwart this attempt; Tamil youth must not fall into this trap wittingly or unwittingly.

We must often remind ourselves of history if we are to learn from it. Unfortunately the only consistent lesson that history teaches is that no one learns from history!

Jaffna youth arrests continue over suspected Tiger activity

View(s):

Teachers fear university may have to close down
By Chris Kamalendran, Sunday Times
Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) detectives are continuing their arrests of youth including students in Jaffna over what Security Forces Commander there, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said was over suspected Tiger guerrilla activity.
However, clergy, parents and academics complain that the exercise has spawned a fear psychosis amidst warnings that the Jaffna University may close down.

According to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran, at least forty Tamil youth have been arrested but not produced in courts. The arrests, he said, had been made under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
The Government claims that the students are being rehabilitated at a camp in Welikanda at their own request. The detentions are wholly illegal but this seems irrelevant to the Government, he told the Sunday Times.
“The arrests are being carried out under normal laws by the TID,” Major General Hathurusinghe told the Sunday Times.
Investigations, he said, revealed that some students were engaged in activities similar to those practised by the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “This is why some students have been inducted to undergo rehabilitation programmes,” he added.
Father Christopher Jeyakumar, Parish Priest of St Mary’s Church in Kayts said that the university students missed studies for three months due to the recent strike by the academic staff.
“One more month has been lost due to the situation created by the arrests,” he told the Sunday Times.
V. Paramalingam , the mother of a student who is already in custody told the Sunday Times “My son Dharshaan is now undergoing rehabilitation in Welikanda.
I went to see him at the camp. He assured me that he was not involved in any agitation campaign against the government. Nor has he been questioned on this aspect.”
“There is a tense situation prevailing. We have had to postpone all examinations,” A. Rasakumar, President of the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association told the Sunday Times. Earlier, the university authorities were informed when arrests were made. Now, the Vavuniya based officials of TID were sending messages directly to the students asking them to turn up in their office, he added.
He said there were fears that the university may close down.

புனர்வாவின் பின்பே மாணவர் விடுதலை; கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்க்ஷ­ திட்டவட்டம், http://onlineuthayan.com

கைதாகித் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்கள் நால்வரையும் புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்காமல் விடுவிக்கவே முடியாது. இவ்வாறு அடித்துக் கூறியிருக்கிறார் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சின் செயலாளர் கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ஷ.

 

கொழும்பு ஊடகம் ஒன்றுக்கு நேற்று வழங்கிய விசேட செவ்வி ஒன்றிலேயே அவர் இவ் வாறு கூறியிருக்கிறார். புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்காமல் மாணவர்களை விடுவிக்க முடியாது என்ற விடயத்தை யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தர் உட்பட பல்கலைச் 

சமூகத்துக்கு தான் ஏற்கனவே தெரிவித்து விட்டதாகவும் அதனை அவர்கள் ஏற்றுக் கொண்டுள்ளதாகவும் கோத்தபாய இந்தச் செவ்வியில் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

 

அவர் அந்தச் செவ்வியில் மேலும் தெரிவித்தாவது:

 

கைதாகித் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள நான்கு பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்களையும் புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்கிய பின்னரே விடுவிக்க முடியும். அதற்கு முன்னர் அவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவதற்கு சாத்தியமே இல்லை.

 

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள் யாழ்.பல்கலைக்கழகத்துக்குள் ஏன் போகவேண்டும்? அவர்களுக்கு அங்கு என்ன வேலை? பல்கலைக்கழகத்துக்குள் சென்று இவர்கள் பயங்கரவாதத்தைத் தூண்டு விடுகிறார்கள்.

 

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் இளைஞர் அணி தலைவரின் பின்னணியிலேயே கடந்த காலச் சம்பவங்கள் நடந்துள்ளன. இவற்றை நாங்கள் ஆதாரத்துடன் நிரூபிப்போம். 

 

மாணவர்களுக்கு புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்கிய பின்னரே அவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவார்கள் என்ற விடயம் யாழ்.பல்கலைக்கழகத் துணைவேந்தர் உட்பட பல்கலைக்கழக சமூகத்திடம் நான் ஏற்கனவே தெரிவித்துவிட்டேன். அவர்களும் அதனை ஏற்றுக் கொண்டுள்ளனர். 

 

மாணவர்களுக்கு எதிராக சட்ட நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க முடியும். ஆனால் நாங்கள் அவ்வாறு செய்யவில்லை. அதற்குப் பதிலாக அவர்களுக்குப் புனர்வாழ்வளிக்கின்றோம். என்றார். 

Army harasses Tamil students

Reconciliation or repression in Jaffna University?

December 29, 2012, 4:32 pm


by Kumar David, Sunday Island

Let there be no doubt about it; the military entering Jaffna University, framing allegations and incarcerating Tamil students is intended to send a chilling and brutal message to all Tamil dissent. "We have crushed you once, don’t dare raise your heads again; we will do it again. Learn your place as second class citizens of Lanka; a new social order has been defined. Live with it!" The reconciliation and rebuilding covenant that Rajapaksa tried to sell to the international community has caved in; the age of another round of ethnic conflict is opening up.

Let’s get the facts on the table as far as known; and I rely on sources that are credible. It all started when Tamil students in the University decided to commemorate their war dead which undoubtedly included many LTTE cadres - so what! - and chose to do so on Heroes’ Day. The military intervened and broke up the commemoration, not because there was any disturbance of the peace, but because Tamils were commemorating their war dead and LTTE cadres were among the fallen. So the Sinhala-Buddhist state is going to lay down to the Tamil people who and what they are allowed to commemorate! This is the quintessential definition of racial oppression.

I am tired of explaining that I am not and have never been a LTTE member or sympathiser, despite Sinhala chauvinists attempting to pigeon hole me thus, most recently subtly assisted by Vasudeva Nanayakkara, but that I am most vehemently opposed to the Sinhala-Buddhist state laying down how the Tamils should conduct their lives, I have never hidden. This is the essence of what has happened on Jaffna Campus; the Sinhalese will decide who and what the Tamils are allowed to commemorate or celebrate. It’s just one step short of the army deciding how the Tamils should think.

The defence establishment is now arm twisting the staff to commence lectures although students are on strike till their colleagues in detention are released. The defence establishment (I do not want to quote names until I am able to get verification) has decided that detained students must undergo rehabilitation. This was not decided by a court of law, this was a unilateral decision of the military without sanction of any judicial process. The Rajapaksa government is quite prepared to play fast and loose with due process whether it be impeachment of a Chief Justice or forced indoctrination of university students with no process in law to justify its arbitrary actions in either case. It is palpably clear that Tamils will not be allowed to conduct their affairs, in their areas of domicile, free of military coercion and a Sinhalese dictate, for many more years and for so long as the Rajapaksa regime rules Sri Lanka.

The chauvinism of the government and the military repression are taken as given, but what to my mind is most disturbing is the neglect and indifference of the Sinhalese public and the English language and Sinhalese media, without exception. This is where the roots of future ethnic dynamite lie dormant, but for how much longer? The same has to be said about the fires of anti-Muslim pogroms being stoked by dark forces, while press and public play blind-man’s-buff. Even the SLMC is more interested in protecting its cabinet posts and perks than in what may happen to the Muslim people, so it won’t make trouble for Rajapaksa or make a fuss about the issue.

Letter from over 100 lecturers

About 120 lecturers of the University of Jaffna have sent an open letter to President Rajapaksa titled "Grave and dangerous plight of students of the University of Jaffna". Unsurprisingly, it has got no coverage in the press so far as I am aware (this is being written on Christmas Day). I am reproducing parts of it, considerably abridged, below.

It began with the Army entering the students’ hostels on November 27, ostensibly to prevent the lighting of flames. The occasion had a political association that has polarized society and the community needs space to discuss its significance and to sort out its own differences. Default on the part of the Government through continued presence of the military without tangible moves towards a political settlement, has helped the mobilisation of youthful feelings to turn it into a day of defiance, where its original association becomes less important. The Army entering the halls, separating the Sinhalese from the Tamil students and showing hostility to and even threatening the latter has serious implications for the future.

The demonstration on the following day, 28th, was a protest carrying slogans that were well within the norms of democratic protest. If the students had been allowed to walk the short distance from the main entrance on Parameswara Road and re-enter by the Science Faculty entrance nothing untoward would have happened. Rather than calm the situation matters were made worse by the Police physically attacking the students.

The same night a petrol bomb exploded at the Sri-TELO camp behind the University. Security around the university, including by several agents in mufti, had been very tight and we find it puzzling that the perpetrators got away scot-free. Even more remarkable is that Kopay Police was able to come up with names of four persons to arrest over the incident, which evidently no one had given them. We are confident that these students had nothing to do with bomb throwing. Two were arrested at their homes before the night was out and two were handed over by the University authorities the following day. They were all detained under the PTA and taken to Vavuniya.

There were several acts of harassment in the University by persons in mufti and the interrogation of an assistant lecturer over the phone over his casual reference to heroes’ day in response to a text query by a Sinhalese student. These reveal an attempt to tackle a political question through heavy handed intimidation. Instead of putting an end to the insanity, more followed.

On the morning of December 6, the university administration was given a list containing names of ten persons to be produced at the Jaffna Police Station, without any intimation of the reasons or the charges against them. The news shocked the university community and parents were distraught. A study of the list convinced us that all these students were wanted only because they were well known as prominent in student activities.

The war is long over and the PTA is most inappropriate to deal with questions that are political in nature. To see terrorism in political gestures and political opinion that do not take recourse to violence and to respond to them by an overwhelming show of force, is both illogical and counter-productive. There is now no anti-state terrorism in Jaffna. An important part of consolidating peace is for the State to conduct itself in a manner that induces respect for the rule of law. Of immediate concern to the University is that in 2011 student leaders were twice attacked and grievously injured by men wielding metal rods. The reasons were entirely political and they had not committed any crime. The Police showed no interest in arresting the culprits. Now using the petrol bomb explosion as a pretext the Police seem determined to detain and harass student leaders and those active who had nothing to do with the bomb.

The result is to cause considerable fear, anxiety and trauma among the students. More importantly dragging innocent students through police stations and police cells, as happened in the 1970s and 1980s, hardens them and breeds contempt for the law and for the officers entrusted to uphold it. Where there should be trust and co-operation there is fear, resentment, and then defiance. Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again.

The purpose of reproducing portions of this letter is not because I suffer from illusions that the political leadership or the military authorities will take any notice of it. It is the hope that some sections at least of Sinhalese opinion will respond that motivates me.

Correction: Tissa Jayatilaka has pointed that the short quotation I attributed to Macbeth in my piece in the Sunday Island of 16 December is from Hamlet, Act III, Sc.3. Sorry about the slip up.

Pressure Mounts On Jaffna Student Arrest

By Chrishanthi Christopher, SundayLeader

Jaffna University students taking part in the simple act of lighting lamps to commemorate the ‘Mahaveer’ day

Despite repeated calls by opposition political parties, civil society movements and human rights groups to release the Jaffna University students who were arbitrarily arrested last month on alleged terrorism charges, they continue to remain in custody of the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID).
It is two weeks since the students were arrested and detained on charges of terrorism for the simple act of lighting lamps to commemorate the ‘Mahaveer’ day on November 27. The police had submitted the names of eleven students to the University administration demanding that they be produced at the Jaffna Police station. There was no explanation or intimation of charges levelled against them. Last Monday, major Tamil parties and others staged a protest opposite the secretariat office in Kilinochchi demanding that the students be released and their rights respected.
The students were peacefully commemorating the war heroes’ day when the security forces and the police interrupted the event resulting in a clash. Following this the students staged a protest the next day. They were having a peaceful protest march on November 28 from the main entrance at the Parameshwaran Road to the Science Faculty entrance. But the police attacked them again. In the melee that followed many students were beaten and dragged causing injuries.
Following this on December 6 eleven students were arrested under the PTA by the TID and seven of them were subsequently released. Still four students continue to languish in  the   Welikanda military camp along with 600 other ex-LTTE cadres. The students are said to be under interrogation.
The arrested are B. Bawanathan  – Leader, University Students’ Union, P. Tharshananan – Secretary, University Students’ Union, K. Jenamejayanth – Leader, Arts Faculty Union and S Solomon – Member, Science Faulty Union.
Today the Jaffna University is closed. The military and the police are occupying the place and the students are boycotting academic activities demanding the release of the students.
Students from other universities island wide have joined in solidarity protesting against the arrest and demanding their release. Last week students from the Peradeniya University gathered outside the university premises for protests.
Tamil University students in Norway carried out a peaceful demonstration with lights and banners condemning the attack and arrests of students.
Also the Canadian University Tamil Students’ Association held a countrywide awareness campaign on the plight of the Jaffna University students.
But the Defense Secretary is unrelenting. He had told in no uncertain terms to the Jaffna University Vice Chancellor Wasanthi Araseratnam and other academics who visited him last week that they would not be released. His explanation is that the students are ex LTTE cadres and they need to be rehabilitated.
TNA MP Suresh Premachandran questions on the kind of rehabilitation university students need. They are final year students and have been peacefully studying all these years.” said Premachandran.
Premachandran contends that a court has to decide whether they need be rehabilitated.  He says that the students were only lighting a lamp to commemorate the death of their relatives and friends. If the JVP can do it, so can they – they have a right to remember their family and friends.
Premachandran says that although the government talks of reconciliation among the Tamils and the Sinhala people it continues to arrests the Tamil people without any intimation to their families. He says that in the last three years and six months following the end of the war there has been no reports of violence but over 50 people have been arrested in the north.  “Their families have not been informed of their whereabouts. There is no reconciliation anywhere”.
Wickramabahu contends that the government is losing its popularity among the people and it is trying to orchestrate that the LTTE is re-emerging. It wants to show the Sinhala masses that it is continuing to fight them.
He says that the LSSP has written to over 100 countries informing about the sort of things taking place in Sri Lanka. “We have informed through our International Centre at Amsterdam.  India and Pakistan have been intimated separately” he adds.
Meanwhile, last week the police hot on the heels of the arrest of the Jaffna University students, went on a rampage arresting youth in Jaffna branding them as ex LTTE cadres.  Police media spokesman Preshantha Jayakody says that they have gathered intelligence on these youth for a long time and now they were arresting them. The arrests are continuing. Premachandran says that over 50 youth have been arrested and being detained without any charges or their families being informed.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have expressed their concern over the new developments in the northern peninsula.  The Human Rights Watch in a communiqué says that the present trend of arresting Tamils and detaining them sends out a dangerous message.  “… any Tamil can be detained arbitrarily and detained  indefinitely,” says Brad Adams, Asia Director, Human Rights Watch.
“The Sri Lankan authorities should realize that such actions generate legitimate grievances not reconciliation,” the message adds.
The Amnesty International was quick in condemning the arrests. The London based human rights group expressed concerns over the well being of the students under the TID custody.  Jim Mc Donald, Sri Lanka country specialist of Amnesty International USA says that the situation is of grave concern and has called on the Sri Lankan government to release the students from custody or charge them with a recognizable criminal offence. “They should be treated in accordance with international standards while in detention,” Jim Mcdonald reiterates.
The Movement for Equal Rights in Sri Lanka has also urged the government to immediately release the Jaffna University students.  The movement has also called for the withdrawal of the army from the north and east and granting equal rights to all Sri Lankans.
Meanwhile, the families of the students arrested have been given the opportunity to visit their sons. Families say that the students had been interrogated intensely looking for information on other students in the university.
The families of the students in custody are wailing and weeping not knowing whether their sons will ever come back home. They say that their sons are innocent and have not been involved in any sort of LTTE activities. All four of them are final year students and they could have not got involved in any terrorist activities.
“The four are being detained because they were vividly portrayed in the media holding placards and protesting. It was a peaceful march until the police intervened and attacked the protestors” said a parent.
TNA MP E. Saravanabhavan who was at the scene when the police and army attacked the students on December 27 says that the arrests of those students is an illegal practice and questions who decides on the need to rehabilitate the students. “It is the court of law – this is illegal practice. Nobody to ask including journalists. None of the media in Colombo highlights our plight,” he laments.
Jaffna Lecturers’ Union, President, Rasakumaran says that the students are in fear. He says that many students do not want to resume their studies and have left the country.
“They say that they do not want to come back and resume their academic activities when their leaders are in rehabilitation camps,” he said.
He says that the government is trying to create a rift between the Tamil and Sinhala students in the university. He claims that there are over 250 Sinhala students studying in the faculty of science and arts. And if the students demand that the academic activities be resumed there will be a clash of interest. We need reconciliation in the minds of all people and the little we have achieved should not be broken – we need to co-exist for a long time,” he said.

A Government Gone Mad And Bad

By Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, sundayleader

Police assaulting Jaffna University students

The heading is inspired by S. L. Gunasekera (his letter to BASL, 28.11.2012) where he asked the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) “to oppose this [impeachment] madness of the incumbent government,” adding that he continues to support the government.
The Sinhalese in collective have been content to sit back and watch as our government literally took Tamils apart – perhaps 70,000 according to the recent Petrie report. A year ago their intelligentsia went after the previous UN Panel, with Jayantha Gunasekera, PC, trying to pass a resolution against its report at the BASL even before it was out. It was a fait accompli anyway and passed as soon as the report was released.
The BASL’s decision last week to not support any new CJ is laudable but there is a lot more wrong with the country as well as with the BASL. The CJ matter is merely symptomatic. For example news reports say that the goverrnment imported racing cars worth $100 million, paying no duty. But far more importantly, how can a young man just starting life on a government salary (whose father too is on government salary) pay $100 million as alleged? The Sunday Leader (06.03.2011) records Prabha Ganeshan saying that Basil Rajapaksa “promised Rs. 20 million to him and another UNP cross-over,” P. Digambaram; supposedly for development work. Ha! The sumptuous meals at Temple Trees, vulgar lifestyles at 5-star hotels, foundation on vain men, and the free flow of liquor at public expense can all be explained away through entertainment budgets from parliament. But the $100 million is more difficult. Thinking people like Gunasekera must reevaluate their support.
However, as public opinion builds up against the insane government, Marwaan Macan-Markar has opined that while the CJ’s supporters are “few and far from the required critical mass … [muscle and power on the streets are still controlled by the well-oiled Rajapaksa political machine”.
Tamil Powerlessness
Imagine then the powerlessness that Tamils feel when the Sinhalese intelligentsia feels so helpless. I recall August 1970 when violent Sinhalese policemen were on punishment transfer in Jaffna as if to say, “If you are driven to beat up people, then go beat up Tamils”.  Standardization was taking form with 28 bonus marks added to every Sinhalese aggregate before determining university admission. It was the time frustrated Tamil youth began pelting policemen with stones and would soon break up the SLFP office and bomb Alfred Duraiappah’s car.
Recent events at Jaffna University where students were assaulted by the army and later pelted soldiers with stones the next day, replay old times. To be expected but scarier are recent incidents in Puthukudiiruppu. A Tamil man was keeping four women, exploiting the gender imbalance since the war crimes. All four were chopped to death by a group imposing Tamil virtue. In the same place an old man was supplying Tamil women to the Sinhalese. He and a soldier were also chopped up. In Jaffna , The Island reported, a Sinhalese worker fooling around with women was killed when he arrived at a set-up tryst.
Similarly, recent reports tell of a Tamil robber gang in Jaffna that is on hire as killers.  They had state protection. When a police official got court sanction to shoot to kill, he was promptly transferred. Some have since taken the law into their hands and disappeared parts of the gang.
Tamilwin.com reports that this has the support of the people of Jaffna . But how different is that attitude from what the army did to Tamils in Mullaitivu? From BASL going all out to condemn the Ban Ki-moon Panel’s report to cover up murder of civilians and vigilante execution of the LTTE leadership?
The Tamil medium is being eliminated from the good universities in the South as we powerlessly watch. Eliminating Tamils from professional schools teaching in English, however, needs alternative strategies. Accordingly Jaffna gets a ramshackle engineering faculty when in all of Sri Lanka there are only three Tamil engineering PhD holders of working age. Ruhuna’s Engineering Faculty was built, for buildings alone, at a cost of Rs. 900 million (in 1998 the dollar cost Rs. 68 as against Rs. 128 today). But Jaffna ’s Engineering Faculty has only an allocation of Rs. 250 million in today’s rupees. It has been located in the jungles off Kilinochchi by a decision of the government and army, backed by the EPDP Vice Chancellor and Council. This despite my recommendations as UGC Coordinator, supported in writing by those such as Professors K. K. Y. W. Perera and Lakshman Ratnayake, that to be successful the Faculty must be in Jaffna to exploit the business environment and private housing so as to use the limited funds for building teaching space. (The sum I requested for buildings and equipment was a mere quarter of the car imports and was told there is no money).
The distance rule implies that students from the North who now are sent to Peradeniya, will be shunted into a cattle shed off Kilinochchi with few or no PhD level teachers. Touché.
Colonization of Kilinochchi: Counter Violence
It is no secret – and government parties have been explicit – that the plan is to have all parts of the country settled by all communities. Jaffna cannot be so easily converted but Vavuniya is now almost taken care of and Kilinochchi can easily follow.  Thus locating Engineering in Kilinochchi deprives Tamils of Peradeniya training and prepares Kilinochchi for colonization. The Vavuniya Campus was exclusively Tamil four years ago, but now the Sinhalese figures are 48 percent in Applied Science and 70 percent in Management with the balance shared between Muslims and Tamils. The direction for Kilinochchi is clear.
Frances Harrison, citing World Bank data, says that 101,748 Tamils are unaccounted for during the last months of the war from Mullaitivu. Many men having died or fled since, the women are easily exploited.
Reports allege that in Visuvamadu, Piramanthanaaru and Kumarasaamypuram, 100 Tamil women have been forcibly married to one Sinhalese soldier whose women are then given extensive facilities including ration cards. I find this credible, given the number of Tamil women made pregnant by Sinhalese and workers in the Kilinochchi area. A female native physician shyly testifies to the many women who come to her for abortion and contraception after illicit unions.
Tamil Subservience
In 1970 when four of us boys were assaulted for no reason by berserk policemen, one of us on the first slap pleaded “Sir, Sir” and was let off.  Two of us who did not bend were brutally assaulted and I ended up with lumps all over my thighs from police boots.
We revolted for justice with little understanding of rights. The revolt, noble and ignoble at once, culminated in the massacres of 2009. And we have become meek servants.  In Jaffna the Tamil public ‘Sirs’ ill-educated soldiers. We are ruled from Colombo through Tamil quislings and an uneducated army.
We grumble that Gotabaya Rajapaksa summoned the Vice Chancellor and Deans of Jaffna University to Colombo . By what protocol can a Defence Secretary summon a VC appointed by the President and Deans? They meekly obeyed. If they had simply said that he needs to come to the university, they would have been a shining example to the ‘Sirring’ public.
For this madness to stop, the government gone mad and bad must stop. Thinkers like S.L. Gunasekera need to understand that human rights violations and the cultivation of fearful subservience are not ethnically oriented, but an assault on all citizens alike.

பல்கலைக்கழக செயற்பாடுகளை வழமைக்கு கொண்டுவர முயற்சி; படைத் தளபதியுடன் சந்திப்புக்கு ஏற்பாடு; எதிர்ப்பும் கிளம்பியது
 http://onlineuthayan.com
 

யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தை மீண்டும் வழமைக்குக் கொண்டு வருவதற்கு முயற்சிகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்படுகின்றன. எனினும் இது தொடர்பான முயற்சிகள் குறித்து விசனங்களும் எழுப்பப்படுகின்றன. 

 

பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் கற்றல் கற்பித்தல் நடவடிக்கைகளை மீண்டும் வழமைக்குக் கொண்டு வருவது தொடர்பில் இராணுவத்தின் யாழ். மாவட்டக் கட்டளைத் தளபதியுடன் பேச்சு நடத்த பலாலிக்கு வருமாறு துறைத் தலைவர்களுக்குப் பதிவாளரால் அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

 

எதிர்வரும் வெள்ளிக்கிழமை இந்தச் சந்திப்பு நடைபெறும் என்று அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் அனைத்துத் துறைத் தலைவர்களுக்கும் இது தொடர்பிலான அறிவித்தல் துணைவேந்தரின் பணிப்பின் பேரில் பதிவாளரால் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்று "உதயன்' பத்திரிகைக்கு அறியவந்தது. ஆனால், இராணுவத் தளபதியுடன் துறைத் தலைவர்கள் பேச்சு நடத்த வேண்டும் என்ற பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகத்தின் எதிர்பார்ப்புக்கு உடனடியாகவே எதிர்ப்புக் கிளம்பியுள்ளது.

 

படைத் தளபதியுடனான பேச்சுத் தொடர்பில் கலைப்பீட துறைத் தலைவர்கள் சந்திப்பு நேற்று நடைபெற்றது. அதில் இந்த யோசனைக்கு கடும் எதிர்ப்புத் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டதாக தகவல் வட்டாரம் "உதயன்' பத்திரிகையிடம் கூறின. "தாம் இராணுவத்தினரைச் சந்திக்க வேண்டிய அவசியமே இல்லை என அவர்கள் கூறிவிட்டனர்'' என்று அந்த வட்டாரம் மேலும் தெரிவித்தது.

 

மாவீரர் தினத்தைத் தொடர்ந்து கைது செய்யப்பட்ட யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்களில் நால்வர் இன்னும் விடுவிக்கப்படவில்லை. அவர்கள் வெலிகந்தவில் புனர்வாழ்வுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்ட பின்னரே விடுவிக்கப்படுவர் என்று பாதுகாப்புச் செயலர் கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ஷ பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகத்திடம் கடந்த வெள்ளிக்கிழமை தெரிவித்திருந்தார். அத்துடன் மாணவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவதற்குக் காத்திருக்காமல் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் செயற்பாடுகளை வழமைக்குக் கொண்டுவர நடவடிக்கை எடுக்குமாறு அறிவுறுத்தியிருந்தார். 

 

இதனை அடுத்தே யாழ். மாவட்ட இராணுவத் தளபதியுடனான சந்திப்புக்கு துறைத் தலைவர்களை வருமாறு அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Jaffna University officials agree to reopen campus

By Mirudhula Thambiah, SundayTimes

Classes will soon resume at the University of Jaffna, which was closed for three weeks after a clash between students and the Army and the Police.

On Friday a Jaffna University delegation, led by Vice-Chancellor Vasanthi Arasaratnam, met Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and other education officials to discuss the university’s problems and other issues. The Sunday Times learns that Vice-Chancellor Arasaratnam was advised to re-open the university. Meanwhile, the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID questioned three female undergraduates on Friday and recorded their statements. Jaffna University students have told the university authorities that they will not return for classes until the four detained students were released.

Professor V. P. Sivanathan, Dean of the Arts Faculty, University of Jaffna, told the Sunday times that students were on an “unofficial boycott” of lectures.

Army personnel deployed around the university campus during the student protests have been withdrawn, while a dozen Policemen have been deployed in three temporary huts at the entrance to the campus.

“We urge the Government to consider the immediate release of the four students being helde at the rehabilitation centre in Welikanda” academic Ratnam Vigneswaran told the Sunday Times.

Mr. Vigneswaran, who is Vice-president of the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) and Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Jaffna, said the four students, once they were released, would be counselled while the university authorities restored normalcy on the campus.

Prof. Vigneswaran said the hostels were empty and students feared to return after the recent clashes with the Army and the Police.

According to Police spokesperson SSP Prishantha Jayakodi, the four female students had no charges against them and were sent to the rehabilitation centre at their own request.

Jaffna Deputy Inspector General Eric Perera told the Sunday Times that the security arrangements at the university will continue.

On November 27, the birthday of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Jaffna University students observed what they called “Maaveerar Day” (Martyrs’ Day), to commemorate the LTTE dead. The following day, a tense situation developed at the campus, resulting in a violent clash between students and Police and Army personnel. Eleven students were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

University teachers unions, students and civic groups have criticised the Government’s handling of the incident and have called for the release of the four detained students.

“We fully support the wish of the our colleagues to have in Jaffna University an institution that fosters pluralism, in which it is prepared to help, although the government’ action was contrary to this aim,” a statement from FUTA said.

In a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Jaffna University Science Teachers Association (JUSTA) says obstacles to the smooth functioning of the institution should be removed. JUSTA Vice-President Professor S. Selvaraja said the university awaited a resolution of the university’s problems.

மாணவரை உடன் விடுவிக்க பாதுகாப்புச் செயலாளர் மறுப்பு; "கவுன்ஸிலிங்' கொடுக்க வேண்டும் என்கிறார்

onlineuthayan.com

பயங்கரவாதத் தடைச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த மாணவர்களைவிடுவிப்பதற்கு பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகம் நேற்று மேற்கொண்ட முயற்சிகள் சாதகமான பயனைத் தரவில்லை என்று கொழும்புத் தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன. 

அவர்களை உடனடியாக விடுவிக்க முடியாது என்று பாதுகாப்புச் செயலர் கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ஷ துணைவேந்தர் வசந்தி அரசரட்ணம் தலைமையிலான குழுவினரிடம் நேரில் தெரிவித்துவிட்டார் என்று நம்பகரமான வட்டாரங்கள் "உதயன்' பத்திரிகையிடம் தெரிவித்தன.

எனினும் "சில நாள்கள் வைத்து உளவளத்துணை (கவுன்ஸிலிங்) கொடுக்கப்பட்ட பின்னரே மாணவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவார்கள்'' என்று பல்கலைக்கழக குழுவினரிடம் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது என்று முகாமைத்துவ மற்றும் வணிக பீடாதிபதி க.வேல்நம்பி நேற்றிரவு "உதயன்' பத்திரிகையிடம் தெரிவித்தார்.

பாதுகாப்புச் செயலரைச் சந்தித்த குழுவில் அவரும் இடம்பெற்றிருந்தார். மேலதிக விவரங்கள் எவற்றையும் தெரிவிக்கவில்லை.

மாணவர்களின் விடுதலையைத் துரிதப்படுத்தி யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் நடவடிக்கைகளை மீண்டும் வழமைக்குக் கொண்டுவரும் முயற்சியாக துணைவேந்தர் தலைமையிலான குழுவினர் நேற்று பாதுகாப்புச் செயலரைச் சந்தித்துப் பேசினர்.

பல்கலைக்கழகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த பீடாதிபதிகள் இந்தக் குழுவில் அடங்கியிருந்தனர். நேற்றுப் பிற்பகலில் சந்திப்பு இடம்பெற்றது.

மாணவர்களின் கைதைத் தொடர்ந்து பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் அனைத்து நடவடிக்கைகளும் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளமை குறித்து குழுவினர் எடுத்துரைத்தனர். மாணவர்களை உடனடியாக விடுவித்து பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் செயற்பாடுகள் வழமைக்குத் திரும்ப உதவுமாறு அவர்கள் விடுத்த கோரிக்கையை நிராகரித்த பாதுகாப்புச் செயலர், "மாணவர்கள் உடனடியாக விடுவிக்கப்படமாட்டார்கள். 

நீங்கள் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தை இயக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுங்கள்'' என்று பதிலளித்தார் என கொழும்புத் தகவல் வட்டாரங்கள் தெரிவித்தன. யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர் ஒன்றியத் தலைவர் வி.பவானந்தன், ஒன்றியச் செயலர் ப.தர்சானந், கலைப்பீட மாணவர் ஒன்றியத் தலைவர் க.ஜெனமேஜெயந்த், விஞ்ஞானபீட மாணவர் ஒன்றிய உறுப்பினர் எஸ்.சொலமன் ஆகியோர் நவம்பர் மாத இறுதியில் கைது செய்யப்பட்டனர்.

மூன்று வாரங்களாகத் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள அவர்கள் கடந்த வாரம் வெலிகந்த முகாமுக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டிருந்தனர். அவர்களை உடனடியாக விடுவிக்குமாறு வலியுறுத்தி பல்வேறு அரசியல் கட்சிகளும் அமைப்புக்களும் தொடர்ச்சியான போராட்டங்களை நடத்தி வருகின்றன.

FUTA SPECIAL STATEMENT ON JAFFNA UNIVERSITY PROBLEM

FUTA SPECIAL STATEMENT ON JAFFNA UNIVERSITY PROBLEM

மாணவர் பிரதிநிதிகள் நால்வர் வெலிக்கந்தைக்கு திடீர் மாற்றம் மீதி 7 பேர் விடுவிப்பு

 Uthayan online

கைது செய்யப்பட்டு வவுனியாவில் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த 7 மாணவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள நிலையில் 4 மாணவர்கள் வெலிக்கந்தை தடுப்பு முகாமுக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டிருக்கிறார்கள் என்று அவர்களது உறவினர்கள் கூறுகின்றனர். 

 

பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர் ஒன்றியத் தலைவர் வி.பவானந்தன், ஒன்றியச் செயலாளர் ப.தர்ஷானந்த், கலைப்பீட மாணவர் ஒன்றியத் தலைவர் க.ஜெனமேஜெயந்த், விஞ்ஞான பீட மாணவன் எஸ்.சொலமன் ஆகிய நால்வருமே பயங்கரவாத விசாரணைப் பிரிவினரின் வவுனியா அலுவலகத்தில் இருந்து வெலிக்கந்தை தடுப்பு முகாமுக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டிருக்கின்றனர் என்று தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது.

 

"நேற்றுக் காலை நாம் வவுனியாவுக்குச் சென்றபோது அங்கு அவர்கள் இல்லை. வெலிக்கந்தைக்கு அவர்கள் கொண்டு செல்லப்பட்டுவிட்டார்கள் என்று அங்கிருந்த அதிகாரிகள் எமக்குத் தகவல் சொன்னார்கள்'' என மாணவர்களில் ஒருவரின் உறவினர் தெரிவித்தார்.

 

மாணவர்கள் வெலிக்கந்தைக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டதற்கான காரணங்கள் அவர்களது பெற்றோருக்கோ, உறவினர்களுக்கோ தெரிவிக்கப்படவில்லை. ஆனால் மாணவர்களில் மூவருக்கு எதிராக மூன்று மாதகாலத் தடுப்புக்காவல் உத்தரவு பெறப்பட்டுள்ளதாக பொலிஸ் பேச்சாளர் பிரசாந்த ஜெயக்கொடி தெரிவித்தார் என்று கொழும்பு ஆங்கில ஊடகம் ஒன்று நேற்றுத் செய்தி வெளியிட்டிருந்தது. 

 

"பயங்கரவாதத் தடைச்சட்டத்தின் 9வது பிரிவின் கீழ் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். இவர்கள் 3 மாதங்கள் வரை தடுத்து வைத்திருக்க முடியும். ஏனைய ஆறு மாணவர்களும் பயங்கரவாதத் தடைச்சட்டத்தின் 61 பரிவின் கீழ் 72 மணித்தியால தடுப்புக்காவலில் வைக்கப்பட்டனர்'' என்றும் பொலிஸ் பேச்சாளர் தெரிவித்திருந்தார்.

 

தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த ஏனைய 7 மாணவர்கள் நேற்று விடுவிக்கப்பட்டனர். வவுனியாவுக்கு அழைக்கப்பட்ட மாணவர்களின் பெற்றோர், பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் சில பீடாதிபதிகள், மூத்த மாணவர் ஆலோசகர், நலச் சேவைப் பதிவாளர் ஆகியோரிடம் இந்த 7 மாணவர்களும் ஒப்படைக்கப்பட்டனர்.

 

நேற்றுப் பகல் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தை வந்தடைந்த மாணவர்கள் யாழ். பொலிஸ் நிலையத்துக்குச் சென்று தாங்கள் விடுவிக்கப்பட்ட விடயத்தைக் கூறிய பின்னர் பெற்றோர்களுடன் வீடுகளுக்குச் சென்றனர். 

 

மருத்துவ பீடத்தைச் சேர்ந்த க.சஞ்சீவன், ச.பிரசன்னா, சி.சசிகாந்த, செ.ஜனகன், ரி.அபராஜிதன் மற்றும் முகாமைத்துவபீடத்தைச் சேர்ந்த ப.சபேஸ்குமார், விஞ்ஞானபீடத்தைச் சேர்ந்த செ.ரேணுராஜ் ஆகியோரை விடுவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

Jaffna teachers to continue protest

 Dailymirror

While seven of the 11 Jaffna University students in TID custody were released today, Jaffna university teachers said they would return to work only if the others in custody were also released.

Police arrested 11 students following a tense situation that prevailed at the Jaffna University last week where students were involved in a violent clash with police and army personnel.

Jaffna University Teachers Union said university activities came to a standstill after the incident and this situation might continue if all the students were not released.

Union President R. Vigneswaran said university teachers were informed that the university general body would meet today to decide if teachers should return to work or continue to stay away until the other four students were released.

“We will stay away from work even if students come for lessons,” he said.

The university Vice Chancellor and faculty deans had left to Vavuniya yesterday to bring back the seven students from TID custody to Jaffna. The university Vice Chancellor and other senior university officials are looking forward receive information on the release of the other four students,” he said.

The Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) charged that the students were arrested on false charges and urged for their immediate release.

“Armed personnel in civilian clothing and uniform are still present in the university premises. This situation must change immediately,” IUSF leader Sanjeew Bandara said.

The clash between security forces and university students took place when the students held an event called Maaveerar (Martyr' Day) to commemorate former LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran’s birthday on November 26. The students were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Students were also interrogated over a petrol bomb explosion at the TELO political party office in Jaffna and posters put up to commemorate the slain LTTE leaders birthday.

Several students were injured during the clash and students accused the police of attacking them while the police allege the students of throwing stones at the officers which compelled them to act. (Olindhi Jayasundere)

Jaffna Uni crisis deepens, tension heightens

• By  Arthur Wamanan and Sandun Jayawardana
• Sunday, 09 December 2012 02:18
• Nation

The arrest and detention of nine students of the Jaffna University have triggered unrest and tension among the student community who continue to boycott academic activities in protest, University sources claimed.

Human rights activists claim the arrest and detention of the students would once again create a fear psychosis among civilians, causing further friction between the people and the security forces in the North and East.

Convener of the Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC) and former Parliamentarian, Mano Ganeshan warned that such acts would only create tension between the two communities and hamper the reconciliation process.

The police arrested nine students last week following clashes that erupted during a protest on November 28 after students commemorated LTTE Martyr’s Day.

“The government should allow the dead to be remembered,” he said. He added that the JVP and the FLSP continued to commemorate those who died during the 1971 insurgencies. “One might disagree with the politics behind the movements. But the people should be allowed to remember the dead,” he said adding students in the North should be given the same political freedom as other parties in the South.”

Meanwhile, the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) said the government was engaged in ‘state terrorism’ preventing students from commemorating the dead.

“We totally condemn this act by the police. The students should be given the freedom to express their political views,” IUSF Convener, Sanjeewa Bandara said. He said the IUSF would campaign for the release of the students.

Among those still under arrest is V. Bhavanandan, President of the Jaffna University Students’ Union.
However, University officials were non-committal on the issue and noted no steps have been taken get the students released. The reopening of the campus also hung in the balance with students refraining from attending classes as a mark of protest. A spokesperson for the University said all academic activities was at standstill since November 29 and would commence once the students returned.

“It is not only the universities and students who are helpless, but the entire people. Very little can be done here,” lamented Dr Mahim Mendis, spokesperson for the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA).

When contacted, Police Spokesperson SSP Prishantha Jayakody said nine Jaffna University students were in police custody as of Friday (07). He claimed they had been arrested on charges of ‘supporting terrorist activities’.

“Originally 10 students were in custody but one was released after being produced before Courts,” he said.

Of the nine students currently in custody, three are held under Section 9 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which would enable them to be detained for up to three months, Jayakody said. The other six are held under Section 6-1 of the PTA for 72 hours. If the investigators feel that these six suspects should be interrogated further, they would go before Court to obtain another detention order for 72 hours, he explained. The suspects are currently being interrogated by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID), Jayakody added. 

Meanwhile, in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association warns of “a deteriorating situation” at the university and expresses frustration at how the entire episode was being handled.

The letter alleged that on the morning of December 6, a man claiming to be from the TID had given a list containing the names of ten students to be produced at the Jaffna Police Station “Without any information of the reasons or the charges against them”.

“A study of the list convinced us that all these students were wanted only because they were well known as prominent in student activities or were victims of police assault on November 28, whose pictures featured in news reports on the Internet,” the letter adds.

The letter also takes university authorities to task for allegedly “handing over” the said students to the police without any questions and for failing to seek a speedy resolution. It further notes that the PTA under which the students are detained is “most inappropriate” to deal with issues that are essentially political in their nature. “To see terrorism in political gestures and political opinion that do not take recourse to violence and to respond to them by an overwhelming show of force, is both illogical and counter-productive,” it adds.

The letter warned of dangerous consequences that could arise from allowing the situation to aggravate. “Where there should be trust and co-operation there is fear, resentment, and then defiance. Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again”, it stated.

Jaffna dons petition president

December 9, 2012, 9:57 pm , the island


Almost a hundred members of the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association have petitioned President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing concern over recent incidents at their institution. They have accused the army of causing unnecessary trouble, while blaming Jaffna based civilian authorities of failing to address their concerns.

The dons accuse the government of default "through continued presence of the military without tangible moves towards a political settlement." At a time the petitioners are trying hard "to make our university one that respects differences and advocates pluralism," the army, they say, entered the halls, "separating the Sinhalese from the Tamil students, showing hostility to and even threatening only the latter."

Attesting that there "is now no anti-state terrorism in Jaffna," they accuse the police of physically attacking the students who demonstrated on Nov. 28 by merely crying slogans that were "well within the norms of democratic protest."

The university teachers’ four page memorandum details the harassment they face. They question how a bomb throwing incident was used to arrest students after the perpetrators got away despite the place being surrounded by armed forces.

They claim the university administration was given, a list of 10 students by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) to be produced. They are of the view that the 10 students "were wanted only because they were well known as prominent student activists or were victims of police assault on Nov. 28, whose pictures featured in news reports on the Internet."

They question the "practice of the university authorities ‘handing over’ students without questioning "the police as to the reasons." The situation is so bad, they say, that even lawyers are afraid to represent students.

The petitioners politely remind the President that he has been in politics for several decades and at the centre of two Southern insurgencies and "that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish the feelings or causes that gave rise to it. Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather to be handled as part of the political task of reconciliation and rebuilding."

On Remembrance Day

By Raisa Wickrematunge, SundayLeader

Students protesting and being beaten up by security forces

In the North, November 27 is ‘Remembrance Day’ – a day on which people remember those who died in the war, often by lighting candles. But peace was abruptly shattered when Army personnel stormed into the Jaffna University hostels, (both the male and female segregated buildings) and assaulted the students.
The very next day, the students planned to hold a silent, peaceful protest against the Army intrusion. Yet when they exited the university gate they were set upon by armed military personnel in civilian clothing. Ten were injured, according to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Suresh Premachandran. Democratic  People’s Front leader Mano Ganesan said that the editor of Uthayan newspaper was injured in the melee and a TNA MP’s vehicle was damaged.

In the aftermath, four students were arrested, of which just one, a medical student, received bail. The other three students are still detained at the TID detention centre in Vavuniya under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody confirmed.

Events came to a head with a protest on Tuesday (4), headed by the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil National People’s Front and supported by civil society organizations.
According to Premachandran, hundreds of civilians attended the protest.
To some it might seem that the outcry over the students is excessive, especially as the heroes these students were commemorating included LTTE cadres.

Yet the TNA insists that Remembrance Day is only about remembering kith and kin, ‘Everyone, whether Sinhalese, Muslim or Tamil, has the right to remember family who died. I can’t understand how it’s not permitted to light a candle to commemorate your children, your parents, or other loved ones who died,’ Premachandran said.

He added that there should not be separate laws for governing different races, and added that as yet there had been no positive response from authorities as a result of the protest. Instead, the road outside the University had initially been ‘like a war zone’ with heavy military presence and special permission needed for access, although this too had cleared once the medical student was released.

However, Premachandran said if the other three students were not released, protests would be held all over the island, starting from Kilinochchi and Vavuniya, until action was taken.

The TNA was joined by members of the Democratic People’s Front during the march. Ganesan said that in his opinion the arrests had united Tamil parties for a cause. He also pointed out that similar celebrations are held in the South on an annual basis, without any kind of repercussions. ‘The JVP commemorate the deaths that happened in 1971 and 1989 every year,’ Ganesan observed.

The 1971 JVP insurrection was started by angry youths who felt that their economic interests were not being served. By its end, an estimated 15,000 insurgents were dead. To prevent an uprising, and amidst allegations of using excessive force to quell the insurgency, former President Sirima Bandaranaike gave JVP Leader Rohana Wijeweera 20 years in prison and issued amnesties for lower-rung members. The JVP was proscribed for six years. Following the signing of the Indo-Lankan accord in 1987, the JVP again resorted to hartals- strikes which were marred by violence from both sides, either in attack or through defence.
And yet each year, as Ganesan points out, Wijeweera’s death is commemorated on November 13.

At one time, the Frontline Socialist Party had held a remembrance meeting which commenced right in front of the Kirulapone police station, Ganesan recalled.  “Therefore we fail to understand why such rights are denied to Tamil youths in Jaffna. The JVP youth also took up arms against Sri Lanka. Wijeweera also took up arms … the JVP too were classified as unlawful elements,” Ganesan said. He asserted that although the LTTE’s struggle was subversive, the theme of both uprisings were the same.

As such, this issue had even come to the attention of the international community, with the LLRC report touching on the inability of the people living in the North to remember and mourn the fallen dead. Yet Plantation Industries Minister and diplomat Mahinda Samarasinghe was ‘drawing a veil’ over the issue by promising to implement the LLRC recommendations, Ganesan said.

Taking this into account, the events on November 27 and the aftermath were ‘unacceptable’ he said. However as a result, more of the general public was joining in to protest, compared to in the past when fear psychosis and intimidation prevented people from joining in. Ganesan cited the May Day rally, where he alleged military personnel in civilian clothing had attended, waving the LTTE flag.

Meanwhile, the JVP also condemned the three student’s arrests. JVP MP Vijitha Herath went so far as to say the incident was totally ‘illegal’ as batons had been used to subdue students. He added that students had a democratic right to commemorate parents and neighbours they had lost – a right, which extended not just to the Tamils but all others as well. Furthermore, he said that if the Government continued with these sorts of incidents people in the North would demand for a separate state in the future. “If the Government doesn’t stop these assaults and arrests, the future will be dark,” Herath said.

He added that while the JVP totally condemned the activities of the LTTE cadres and opposed the movement, students and the general public had the right to express their views. It was for this reason that the JVP, while being unable to attend the protest in Jaffna, condemned the arrest of the three students, he said.
The three students remain in detention in Vavuniya, and look unlikely to be released anytime soon. It appears that there is a feeling of increased anger in the North – as evidenced by the larger number of the general public who joined party leaders in protest. Whether the further protests the TNA have planned will lead to any positive action towards the three students’ release, remains to be seen.

–

Jaffna University Community Petitions President

Reported by Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Almost a hundred members of the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association have petitioned the President expressing concern over the disturbance created there by the army while “no official here seems to be able to deal with the problem or to adequately comprehend our concern.”

The dons accuse the government of default “through continued presence of the military without tangible moves towards a political settlement”. At a time the petitioners are trying hard “to make our university one that respects differences and advocates pluralism,” the Army, they say, entered the halls, “separating the Sinhalese from the Tamil students, showing hostility to and even threatening [only] the latter.”
Attesting that there “is now no anti-state terrorism in Jaffna” they accuse the police of physically attacking the students who demonstrated on 28 November against the attack on the previous day by merely carrying slogans that were “well within the norms of democratic protest”.

Their 4-page memorandum details the harassment they face. They question how perpetrators of a bomb throwing which was used to arrest students got away despite the place being surrounded by armed forces. They point to the university administration being given, without any intimation as to why, a list of 10 students by the TID to be produced, and state their conviction that the 10 students “were wanted only because they were well known as prominent in student activities or were victims of police assault on 28th November, whose pictures featured in news reports on the internet.” They question the “practice of the University authorities ‘handing over’ students without questioning “the police as to the reasons”. The situation is so bad, they say, that even lawyers are afraid to represent students.

The petitioners politely remind the President that he has been in politics for several decades and at the centre of two Southern insurgencies, and “that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish the feelings or causes that gave rise to it. Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather to be handled as part of the political task of reconciliation and rebuilding.”

"கைதான மாணவர்கள் ஆபத்தில்" - யாழ். ஆசிரியர்கள் கடிதம்

கடைசியாக பிரசுரிக்கப்பட்டது: 8 டிசம்பர், 2012 - 11:47 ஜிஎம்டி

BBC Tamil

ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்ட பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்கள் மீது அண்மையில் பொலிசார் தடியடியும் நடத்தியிருந்தனர்.

வட இலங்கையில் இருந்து பயங்கரவாதப் புலனாய்வுப் பொலிசாரால் அண்மையில் கைதுசெய்யப்பட்டுள்ள யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்கள் 11 பேர் மோசமான மற்றும் ஆபத்தான சூழலை எதிர்கொள்கின்றனர் என்று தெரிவித்து அப்பல்கலைக்கழக ஆசிரியர்கள் நாட்டின் ஜனாதிபதிக்கு கடிதம் ஒன்றை எழுதியுள்ளனர்.

அரசியல் பிரச்சினைகளை வலுக்கரம் கொண்டு நசுக்க அதிகாரிகள் முனைகிறார்கள் என்றும், பொய்யான காரணங்களைக் காட்டி ஆட்களைக் கைதுசெய்கின்றனர் என்றும் ஆசிரியர்கள் இக்கடித்தத்தில் குற்றம்சாட்டியுள்ளனர்.

நாட்டின் சிறுபான்மையினரான தமிழர்களின் உணர்வுரீதியான தலைமையகமாக விளங்கும் யாழ்ப்பாணத்திலே அவர்கள் எதிர்கொண்டுவரும் பிரச்சினைகளை யாரும் புரிந்துகொள்ளவில்லை என்று முறையிடுவதாக யாழ். பல்கலைக்கிழக ஆசிரியர்கள் 125 கையொப்பமிட்டு ஜனாதிபதிக்கு அனுப்பியுள்ள இக்கடிதம் அமைந்துள்ளது.

கிளர்ச்சி படைகள் அழிக்கப்பட்டுவிட்டதாலேயே அவர்கள் உருவாகக் காரணமாக இருந்த உணர்வுகளும் அழிந்துவிடும் என்ற அர்த்தம் இல்லை என்று எழுதியுள்ள ஆசிரியர்கள், பாரபட்சம் காட்டப்படுவதாக தமிழர்களிடையே பரவலான அதிருப்தி நிலவுவதைக் கோடிகாட்டியுள்ளனர்.
மக்களிடையே காணப்படும் அதிருப்தியையும் எதிர்ப்புணர்வையும் அரசியல் ரீதியாகக் கையாளாமல் பொலிசாரைக் கொண்டு கையாளக்கூடாது என்று இவர்கள் கேட்டுக்கொண்டுள்ளனர்.

விடுதலைப் புலிகளின் மாவீரர் தினத்தைக் அனுசரிக்க சட்டவிரோதமாக முயன்றனர் என்றும் அல்லது அரசுக்கு ஆதரவான கட்சி ஒன்றின் மீது பெட்ரோல் குண்டு வீசினர் என்றும் குற்றம்சாட்டின் 11 மாணவர்களை பொலிசார் கைதுசெய்திருந்தனர்.

சிறியதொரு தாக்குதலை சாக்காக வைத்து மாணவர்களைத் துன்புறுத்த முயற்சி நடக்கிறது என்று தாங்கள் நம்புவதாக ஆசிரியர்கள் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளனர்.

நாட்டின் இனப்பிரச்சினைக்கு தீர்வு ஒன்று வராததாலும் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் மிக அதிகமான இராணுவப் பிரச்சன்னம் காணப்படுவதாலும் எழுந்துள்ள அதிருப்தியால்தான் மாணவர்கள் மாவீரர் தினத்தை அனுட்டிக்க நேர்ந்தது என்று ஆசிரியர்கள் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளனர்.

Jaffna University Simmering…

Niranjala Ariyawansha and Chrishanthi Christopher, SundayLeader
Amnesty International (AI) has appealed to the government of Sri Lanka to make an early decision on the three students of the University of Jaffna who were arrested on the 1st of December and presently being held by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) in Vavuniya. AI fears that they may be tortured.
On the 27th of November, lamps were lit within the Jaffna University premises. It was the day that “Great Heroes” were remembered. It was also to commemorate the dead during the war. The Great Heroes Day was so declared by the LTTE.
The lighting of the lamps came to be known by the armed forces who, in turn entered the University premises the same evening and threatened the students. They had even entered the female students’ dormitories and used abusive language within earshot of those nearby. They had brandished weapons in addition to turning abusive. They proceeded to throw away the lamps and thereafter had entered the male dormitory and threatened the students.
A science faculty student from the University on conditions of anonymity said, “University students are also part of our society. Others were remembering their relatives and friends. Even though all may not accept their political beliefs and what they fought for and died, we understand that they fought for our rights and we must remember them by lighting lamps. No one should prevent that”.
“Let us think. Let me say for the sake of argument, I do not accept their political motives? But if the person killed is my father, mother, brother or sister? Can I not remember them by lighting a lamp? That is a right we have as human beings to remember our loved ones. If we cannot do that what basic human rights do we enjoy?”
Whilst this incident was taking place the Editor of the Uthayan newspaper was taking photographs. He was assaulted by a senior police officer. “That evening a fellow student called me and said that the Police had entered the premises and there was a commotion. I went to the University thereafter. I saw the Police leaving the female dormitory and going towards the male one. I took some photographs of this. A few Police Officers came to me on seeing this. There was a senior officer in civilian attire. There were two or three in uniform for his security. That is how I knew he must be a high ranking officer. He held me against the temple wall and assaulted me. MP Saravanabhavan came there and told him that I was a media person. The assault stopped thereafter,” he said.
The university students decided to hold a peaceful protest march against this action on the 28th. The intention was to march through the front gate of the university and to re-enter the university premises through the science faculty. This peaceful protest was also set upon by the Police. At least 20 students had to seek treatment at the Jaffna Hospital. Thereafter the TID on the 1st of December arrested four students. One student from the science faculty was released. The other three are being held by the TID at Vavuniya.
MP P. Saravanabhavan said, “The students performed a very peaceful and short protest march. When the procession came out of the front gate of the university, the army assaulted them. The children ran helter-skelter. Many were injured. I shouted at the army and asked them to stop. They responded, ‘we are army, we will do anything’. I have that recorded.”
He went on to say, “This was unnecessary. With the world human rights day round the corner and the UN Human Rights Summit to be held next March, the army behaves like this? We can imagine how this government ensures human rights. They must send intelligent people to settle problems. Not Andare’s like this”.
Amnesty International and other Human Rights organisations have voiced fears over the safety of the three students held by the TID.
The Executive Director of Transparencvy Internationa J C Weliamuna says that there is no security for the people of Sri Lanka contrary to what the government says.
“Is this the way the government approaches reconciliation? This incident showed that the government is not serious to bring about reconciliation between the communities. If tamil students cannot express themselves by a simple lighting of lamps, where are the human rights that the government says is in place? Within an independent Sri Lanka anyone can remember their dead political heroes. Even the LTTE should have that right.”
Attorney Weliamuna said that the government does not care about International Protocols or order. “The government has no serious thoughts about the International community. They will use international pressure to shore up local support.”
A Jaffna University Lecturer from the Arts Faculty who did not wish to divulge his name said, “Tamils cannot divulge their names to discuss nor express views on important national issues concerning them. We live in fear. We may disappear at any moment. That is why I did not wish to give my name. Now the Sinhalese also live in fear. You can then imagine how it is for a Tamil? The leaders of this country should be ashamed of themselves at what they have created”.
He went on to add, “Tamil politicians must solve this before the national question. I mean anyone should be able to light lamps on the great heroes’ day. They should not look to gain political mileage when students do this. They must take a decision on the great heroes’ day quickly. If the JVP can commemorate their heroes why cannot the Tamils do so?’
A discussion took place on the 4th of December between the Commander of the Northern Forces Brig. Mahinda Hathurusinghe, Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University and other Deans. K. Rasakumaran, President of the University Lecturers said “By now three Police Posts have been placed at the entrances instead of the Army. Up to now we have not been informed whether the three students in custody will be released. At this point there are no students within the University. They have left to their homes. They live in fear. We have asked for their release and to stop the interference by the military into University affairs. This has been informed to the Vice Chancellor and all the Embassies in addition to the Minister of Higher Education.”
The US Embassy has already issued a statement condemning the attack. They have also urged the government to recognise the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. The convener of the IUSF Sanjeewa Bandara also said that freedom of expression should be strengthened and recognised by the government. He also urged the government to release the three students under arrest.
The international day for human rights is on the 10th of December. Human Rights are under threat across the country and not confined to the Jaffna peninsula. The International Community has been constantly urging the government to respect and uphold Human Rights. The University students of Jaffna have a common complaint. They say that they have never had a peaceful and steady life.
A student who wished to remain anonymous said “It is the government that propagates terrorism. We do not understand what relations remain between the peaceful lighting of lamps and national security. Are Tamils (Demalu) not people? Is the Mahinda Chintanaya which proposes a prosperous future only for others and not Tamils?”

President should intervene as ‘no official here seems able to deal with university students problem’ – Jaffna citizens

 

SundayTimes

Academics, clergy and members of the public want the Police and military banned from entering the premises of the Jaffna campus, including the student hostels. If they insisted on visiting the campus, they should seek the permission of the university authorities. Two separate letters and a statement to this effect were issued last week.

Writing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association (JUSTA) warned that “dragging innocent students through police stations and cells – as in the 1970s and 1980s – would harden them and breed contempt for the law and its enforcers.”

“Where there should be trust and co-operation, there is fear, resentment and then defiance,” the association said. “Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again.”

In a separate communication, members of the clergy and the public expressed concern that Jaffna University students had been arrested for campaigning against alleged Army human rights violations.

Describing the arrests as “baseless and politically motivated”, 121 persons, some representing organisations, signed a document urging the Government to release the students, as there was no clear evidence of wrong-doing. They also demanded legal assistance and family visits for the detainees and an assurance that the students in custody would be treated well.

The statement was signed by religious leaders, including the Roman Catholic bishops of Mannar, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Galle and Kurunegala. Jaffna University students were boycotting classes to protest these arrests and “acts of intimidation and attacks carried out by the Army,” the statement pointed out, adding that many students had left their hostels, fearing further assaults or arrest.

“The situation in the Jaffna University remains tense and volatile,” the statement said, adding that the actions of the security forces would disrupt life at the university, academic work and threaten the safety and security of the students on the campus.

The Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association has called for intervention by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Association said it wasforced to write to the President because no official in Jaffna seemed “able to deal with the problem or to adequately comprehend our concern.”

The association said there was no agreement or consensus among the university community on the action taken by some students to observe “Heroes’ Day.” The significance of the actions had to be discussed and differences of opinion sorted out, they said. In the absence of a political settlement to the problems in the North and East, “residual influences” have been allowed to legitimise November 27 as a day of defiance, the association added.

President Rajapaksa has been in politics for several decades and was at the centre of two insurgencies in the South, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association said. The President should therefore know that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish or eliminate the feelings or causes that gave rise to the insurgent movement, the JUSTA observed.

“Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather to be handled as part of the political task of reconciliation and rebuilding,” it was pointed out.

In an open letter to the Jaffna University Vice-Chancellor, the University Teachers’ Association of Jaffna (UTAJ) called for the “immediate removal of military, Police and security checkpoints around the campus (set up after November 27).”

It also demanded a guarantee that no outsider, particularly military or Police, be allowed to enter the Jaffna University or hostels without permission from the university authorities.

Grave And Dangerous Plight Of Students At The University of Jaffna

December 8, 2012 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

 

By Ratnajeevan H. Hoole -

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Jaffna University Community Petitions the President

Reported by Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Almost a hundred members of the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association have petitioned the President expressing concern over the disturbance created there by the army while “no official here seems to be able to deal with the problem or to adequately comprehend our concern.”

The dons accuse the government of default “through continued presence of the military without tangible moves towards a political settlement.” At a time the petitioners are trying hard “to make our university one that respects differences and advocates pluralism,” the Army, they say, entered the halls, “separating the Sinhalese from the Tamil students, showing hostility to and even threatening [only] the latter.”
 Attesting that there “is now no anti-state terrorism in Jaffna,” they accuse the police of physically attacking the students who demonstrated on 28 Nov. against the attack on the previous day by merely carrying slogans that were “well within the norms of democratic protest.”

Their 4 page memorandum details the harassment they face. They question how perpetrators of a bomb throwing which was used to arrest students got away despite the place being surrounded by armed forces. They point to the university administration being given without any intimation as to why, a list of 10 students by the TID to be produced, and state their conviction  that the 10 students “were wanted only because they were well known as prominent in student activities or were victims of police assault on 28^th November, whose pictures featured in news reports on the internet.” They question the “practice of the University authorities ‘handing over’ students without questioning “the police as to the reasons.” The situation is so bad, they say, that even lawyers are afraid to represent students.”

The petitioners politely remind the President that he has been in politics for several decades and at the centre of two Southern insurgencies, and “that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish the feelings or causes that gave rise to it. Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather to be handled as part of the political task of reconciliation and rebuilding.”
We publish below the full text of  the letter;

Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka today sent the following letter to the  President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

His Excellency the President,
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Your Excellency,

Grave and dangerous plight of students at the University of Jaffna

We members of the university community in Jaffna feel constrained to write you directly in view of a deteriorating situation, where no official here seems to be able to deal with the problem or to adequately comprehend our concern.
It began with the Army entering the students’ hostels on 27^th November, ostensibly to prevent the lighting of flames. The occasion had a political association that has polarized society and the community needs space to discuss its significance and to sort out its own differences. Default on the part of the Government through continued presence of the military without tangible moves towards a political settlement, has helped the mobilisation of youthful feelings to turn it into a day of defiance, where its original association becomes less important.
Your Excellency well knows, having been in politics for several decades and in the centre of two Southern insurgencies, that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish the feelings or causes that gave rise to it. Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather  to be handled as part of the political task of reconciliation and rebuilding.
We have all tried hard to make our university one that respects differences and advocates pluralism. The Army entering the halls, separating the Sinhalese from the Tamil students and showing hostility to and even threatening the latter not only  undermines our efforts but has serious implications for the future.
The demonstration on the following day, 28^th, was a protest against the previous day’s incident, carrying slogans that were well within the norms of democratic protest. If the students had been allowed to walk the short distance from the main entrance on Parameswara Road and reenter by the Science Faculty entrance nothing untoward would have happened. Rather than calm the situation matters were made worse by the Police physically attacking the students.
The same night a petrol bomb exploded at the Sri-TELO camp behind the University causing no physical harm to anyone. Security around the university, including by several agents in mufti, had been very tight and we find it puzzling that the perpetrators got away scot-free. Even more remarkable is that the Kopay Police were able to come up with names of four persons to arrest over the incident, which evidently no one had given them. We are confident that these students had nothing to do with bomb throwing. Two were arrested at their homes before the night was out and two were handed over by the University authorities the following day. They were all detained under the PTA and taken to Vavuniya.
There were several acts of harassment in the University by persons in mufti and the interrogation of an assistant lecturer over the phone over his casual reference to heroes’ day in response to a text query by a Sinhalese student. These reveal an attempt to tackle a political question through heavy handed intimidation. Instead of putting an end to the insanity, more followed.
Another list of ten
On the morning of 6^th December, the university administration was given, by a man who claimed to be from the TID, a list containing names of ten persons (see annexe) to be produced at the Jaffna Police Station, without any intimation of the reasons or the charges against them. The news shocked the university community and parents were distraught. One sickly mother of a student handed over the Police by the University was so upset with the University’s helplessness that she threatened to take poison.
A study of the list convinced us that all these students were wanted only because they were well known as prominent in student activities or were victims of police assault on 28^th November, whose pictures featured in news reports on the internet.
The practice of the University authorities ‘handing over’ students gives rise to some questions and we are not sure of the legal situation. At the same time we realise that parents sometimes wish for the university to be involved out of fear that otherwise something dire might happen. What does concern us however is that, while complying with police requests to hand over students the University authorities fail to question the police as to the reasons and to seek speedy resolution. The situation is so bad that even lawyers are mostly afraid to represent students and ask them to seek help from the University.
The use of the PTA
The war is long over and the PTA is most inappropriate to deal with questions that are political in nature. To see terrorism in political gestures and political opinion that do not take recourse to violence and to respond to them by an overwhelming show of force, is both illogical and counter-productive. There is now no anti-state terrorism in Jaffna.
An important part of consolidating peace is for the State to conduct itself in a manner that induces respect for the rule of law. Of immediate concern to the University is that in 2011 student leaders were twice attacked and grievously injured by men wielding metal rods. The reasons were entirely political and they had not committed any crime. The Police showed no interest in arresting the culprits. Now using the petrol bomb explosion as a pretext the Police seem determined to detain and harass student leaders and those active who had nothing to do with the bomb.
The result is to cause considerable fear, anxiety and trauma among the students that is detrimental to the academic character of the University. More importantly dragging innocent students through police stations and police cells, as happened in the 1970s and 1980s, is frightening at the start and then hardens them and breeds contempt for the law and for the officers entrusted to uphold it. Where there should be trust and co-operation there is fear, resentment, and then defiance. Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again.
We saw no alternative but to write to you as it is far from clear who is in charge. We appeal for your understanding of the situation and urge you to take such measures to ensure that the rule of law is observed.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Members of the University Community,Jaffna,
7^th December 2012
Annexe

List of Names of Students

1. Selwarathnam Renuraj
2. V. Bhavananadan
3. Ambalawanapillai Prasana
4. T. Abarajithan
5. Pranadhan Sabeshkumar
6. Selvanayagam Janahan
7. Rajendran Miller Alexendar
8. kanagarasa Sanjeewan
9. Sathyamoorthi Prasanna
10. Sinnaiya Shashikantha